Wayne Law News

Wayne Law’s 2015 Commencement ceremony May 18 honored 145 recipients of degrees for December 2014 and candidates for degrees in May 2015 and August 2015.

Wayne Law’s state bar exam passage rate continues to climb, with 89 percent of first-time test-takers who took the exam in February passing.

Nearly 200 business, community, legal and political leaders gathered May 5 to celebrate former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin’s new roles at Wayne Law and Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP.

Wayne Law significantly expanded its community events and partnerships and other community outreach efforts during the 2014-15 academic year.

Justice Sujata Manohar, retired judge of the Supreme Court of India, met with Wayne Law students May 18 for a roundtable discussion.

Wayne Law's Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights is inviting leaders from local organizations to apply to join its second yearlong cohort group for the Detroit Equity Action Lab.

Distinguished Professor Robert Sedler will be named an honorary professor of Russia's Ural State Law University during the ninth session of the Euro-Asian Juridical Congress in Yekaterinburg, where he also will present two papers.

Erica Shell, who graduated from Wayne Law on May 18, has been awarded an honorable mention in a national environmental law writing competition.

Six second-year students have been elected to the 2015-16 Executive Board of the Wayne Law Mock Trial program.

Kiefer Cox and Brent Farago, who graduated May 18, from Wayne Law, were selected by faculty to be honored at the recent State Bar of Michigan Taxation Section annual meeting.

Dean Jocelyn Benson and faculty greeted admitted students for fall 2015 at a Dean’s Luncheon on May 15 at the Detroit Athletic Club.

Upcoming Events

June 8 - Wayne Law 2015 Golf Outing

Oct. 8 - Law School Alumni Reception during State Bar Annual Meeting

More Events

Alumni Accomplishments

Corey Beaubien, '06, with Scott Hogan, '09, wrote an article, "Making Sense of Non(ce)sense - Seeking Broad Claim Coverage and Avoiding Unwanted Means-Plus-Function Treatment," published in Bloomberg BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal in May. Both Beaubien and Hogan are shareholders at intellectual property law firm Reising Ethington PC.

Kathy Browne, '87, received a fourth honor from the Daughters of the American Revolution, a state award for "recognition for efforts in conservation and protection of our Michigan resources."

Anna Frushour, '09, of Reiser & Frushour in Ann Arbor is the new president of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, Washtenaw Region.

Ruth Lyons Goldner, '11, and David Deeg have opened Goldner Deeg PLLC, a family law practice in Royal Oak.

Hon. Nanci Grant, '89, chief judge of the Oakland County Circuit Court, was presented with the 2015 WONder Woman Award at the Women Officials Network Award Ceremony in Troy. The WONder Woman Award recognizes women who have improved the quality of life in southeast Michigan through their civic, philanthropic and professional accomplishments.

Kathryn Hickner, '03, joined Ulmer & Berne's Cleveland office as co-chair of the firm's Health Care Practice Group.

Carroll Little, '57, was the focus of a Detroit News column, "Berman: The state's most tenacious judge." He is a state administrative judge and the state's longest-serving public employee.

David Marmon, '81, was reappointed to the Michigan Tax Tribunal, an administrative court that hears appeals on several categories of Michigan taxes.

Benjamin McCoy, '14, is co-author of Petroleum Coke in the Urban Environment: A Review of Potential Health Effects. The article was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Ken Neuman, '86, managing partner with Neuman Anderson PC, presented a May 20 session on new changes to the laws governing real estate lending to the Home Builders Association of Michigan.

Ruby Robinson, '11, of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center was a panelist at a May 21 immigration workshop presented by The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Sangeeta Shah, '93, was named a charter member of global nonprofit The Indus Entrepreneurs. She is a shareholder of Brooks Kushman.

Jason Tejani, '14, has joined Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC in the firm's Royal Oak office. Tejani concentrates his practice in intellectual property law with a focus on preparing and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications in the chemical arts.  

Pamela Zarkowski, '89, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Detroit Mercy, was the keynote speaker at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine commencement. Zarkowski is the former executive associate dean of the UDM School of Dentistry.

Chelsea Zuzindlak, '12, wrote a chapter, "Tell 'Em You're From Detroit," in the book Asian Americans in Michigan: Voices from the Midwest. She is a staff attorney with Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP.  


More Alumni Accomplishments

Faculty Accomplishments

Blanche Cook presented "The Racialization of the Justice System" at Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center in Detroit. The presentation's sponsors included the American Civil Liberties Union, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Swords into Plowshares Peace Center, Central United Methodist Church, AFL-CIO Metro Detroit's Civil Rights Committee and People's World.  

Lance Gable presented "Quarantine and Isolation Power: Legal and Ethical Considerations" at the Public Health and Disasters Conference sponsored by the University of Utah.

Noah Hall presented "Law and Governance of the North American Great Lakes" at World Water Congress XV in Edinburgh, Scotland. The event was sponsored by the International Water Resources Association and the Scottish government. The congress is a global event bringing together experts and leaders in water use and protection.

Sen. Carl Levin was awarded the Leonard N. Simons History Award by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan for "his passion for and interest in preserving and sharing Michigan's Jewish history." The award was presented at the society's annual meeting at the Gem Theatre in Detroit.

Julia Qin presented "Nature of WTO Accession Protocols" at the 15th World Trade Organization Annual Conference, co-sponsored by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and Georgetown Law Center, in London.

Nick Schroeck is co-author of Petroleum Coke in the Urban Environment: A Review of Potential Health Effects. The article was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Rachel Settlage was a panelist at an immigration workshop presented by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn.

Katherine White was reappointed to the national Plant Variety Protection Board for a two-year term. The 14-member board advises the secretary of agriculture on matters concerning intellectual property rights to developers of new varieties of plants. White represents the public/university sector of the board, which also includes members of the farm community and the plant breeding seed industry. 

Lance Gable presented "Public Health Ethics and Emergency Preparedness" to the Wayne State University Bridges 2 Equity program workshop.


More Faculty Accomplishments

Professors in the News

Jocelyn Benson talked about Wayne Law's new Levin Center and other updates on Michigan's Big Show.

Blanche Cook was quoted in a People's World report, Ending racism key to U.S. justice, says Detroit law professor.

Noah Hall was quoted in a Michigan Radio report, State of Michigan announces $75 million settlement with Enbridge over Kalamazoo River oil spill.

Peter Henning was quoted in a Bloomberg Business report, Citigroup Says U.S. Declines to Prosecute on Libor Rigging.

Wayne Miller was interviewed for an NPR report, Why Some Detroit Residents Claim To Live Someplace Else.

John Mogk wrote an opinion piece, Urban issues demand Obama's attention, published in The Detroit News.

Nick Schroeck was interviewed on WILS radio for a report on the Enbridge oil spill settlement. 

Noah Hall was quoted in a Detroit News report, Enbridge settles cleanup of Michigan oil spill for $75M.

Nick Schroeck was quoted in a Detroit News report, Oil spill settlement seems largest in Michigan history.

Peter Henning was quoted in a Business Insider report, The plan to prevent the next ‘Flash Crash' is years behind schedule, but for most people it doesn't matter.

Wayne Miller was quoted in a Detroit Free Press report, Duggan faces uphill fight for cheaper car insurance.


More Professors in the News